Better Call Saul: "Klick"Review

Of all the despicable characters in Vince Gilligan's Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad universe, Chuck McGill has got to be the worst. Move over, Skyler haters. Marie was never this bad. The lengths that Chuck will go to in order to destroy his brother get more calculating and hateful with each season, and now he's truly out for blood.

As Better Call Saul has evolved and figured out what it's going to be about, it's the Jimmy vs. Chuck story that's proven to be its heart. Their pattern is always the same. Jimmy, for all that he's a crook and scummy lawyer, is all earnestness when it comes to trying to win his brother's affection. For Chuck, that's never going to happen, and he's developed an insurmountable wall separating himself from his brother that will never be broken down.

"Klick" opens with Jimmy waiting in Chuck's hospital room for his brother to wake up from a seemingly self-induced coma before quickly cutting a flashback. In the past, Jimmy and Chuck sat side-by-side in a similar hospital room the day their mother eventually died. Jimmy, sick of waiting after she'd been in a coma for days, decided to get a sandwich for him and his brother. Of course, she passed away during the time he was gone -- but not before crying out Jimmy's name twice instead of acknowledging her other son in the room.

Is it Jimmy's fault that so many people in his life find him to have lovable qualities even if he goes through life breaking the rules? No; that's just the kind of person he is. But Chuck will never be able to reconcile that, and the more mentally ill he gets, the more destroying Jimmy becomes his all out goal. It doesn't help that more and more people are on Jimmy's side, all the way down to Ernie, who lied to protect the younger McGill from his older brother's wrath.

If Better Call Saul had been skirting around that core conflict all season, it came to the forefront in the Season 2 finale. This has been a series where the stakes are incredibly small; sometimes frustratingly so, and sometimes out of balance with the larger-scale Mike storyline. But in "Klick," the intimate drama worked at its best, with some masterful cinematography underlining just how much Chuck has gone past the breaking point. That scene with Chuck on the gurney as doctors examine him was one of the most harrowing and difficult to watch sequences Better Call Saul has put together, and the episode was all the better for it.

Jimmy's Achilles heel is Chuck in many ways, especially as he tries to help his brother get better. This has been the case since Season 1, and even after Chuck's unforgivable betrayal in preventing Jimmy's ascension in HHM, Jimmy has ultimately stood by his older brother. Chuck might have a mental illness, but he's also incredibly sharp, especially when it comes to taking down Jimmy. He uses Jimmy's weakness against him at the end, manipulating his younger brother into confessing his crime and then recording the confession to use against him.

The irony, of course, is that Jimmy is going to be successful by using his underhanded tactics. Even Kim is impressed by Jimmy's commercial, promoting him as a lawyer you can trust, though the viewer knows he filmed it by cutting corners. At the end of the episode, business is booming for him from the elderly community. Jimmy is a character who always lands on his feet. The big question is how Chuck's storyline eventually ends before the events of Breaking Bad.

As great as much of this episode was, it lacked the impact needed to be an amazing season finale. Mike's storyline continued to run parallel to Jimmy's arc, and felt like a side note in "Klick." He failed in his mission to kill Hector and, more importantly, Nacho protected his boss, but beyond being a frustrating turn for Mr. Ehrmantraut, this twist lacked a much-needed resonance in the larger story. As great as his standalone scenes are, it often feels like he's off on his own show. (Update: showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould confirmed that Gus Fring theory everyone has been speculating about.)

Similarly, the evolution of Chuck and Jimmy's complex relationship was much more engaging in last week's "Nailed," and that cliffhanger was much more impactful. If anything, "Klick" felt like it would have been a better season opener than a season ender. This episode felt like it was building back up momentum instead of being a solid place to press pause on the story until Better Call Saul returns with Season 3 in 2017. While the final reveal of Chuck having recorded Jimmy's confession is an OK (if telegraphed) twist, it's hardly the best way that Gilligan has found to tie off a season in the Bad/Saul universe.

The Verdict

Better Call Saul's Season 2 finale was fantastic on a small scale, fully examining the complex relationship between Jimmy and Chuck. The sicker Chuck gets, the more he's out to take down Jimmy, and he might have found a way to do that by the end of the episode.

Though much of this episode was great, it fell short of being amazing by once again having Mike's storyline feel more like an afterthought in the larger tapestry being woven. Overall, this feels like it could have been a better way to kick off Season 3 versus end Season 2, though it will be interesting to see how Chuck moves forward on his quest to destroy his younger brother.

Great

There might not be a character more hatable than Chuck McGill after the events of Better Call Saul's Season 2 finale.